We are only a day away from The Game Awards, which is usually stuffed with new game announcements. The show has followed a similar formula the past couple of years, and this year doesn’t seem to be too different. That being said, Geoff Keighley and co. are adding to their award season experience by also holding The Game Festival, a “digital consumer event” that will let players try out several game demos for free on Steam.
Over a dozen game demos are poised to be free to try on Steam between 10am PT on December 12 and 10am PT on December 14. The full list of games includes Nightdive Studios’ System Shock, Chucklefish’s Eastward, Thunder Lotus’ Spiritfarer, United Label’s Roki, Team17’s Moving Out, Greg Lobanov’s Chicory, Brain&Brain’s Wooden Nickel, The Game Bakers’ Haven, 2pt Interactive’s Heavenly Bodies, Powerhoof’s The Drifter and Acid Knife, Devolver Digital’s Carrion, and Glass Bottom Games’ SkateBIRD.
In a post revealing this new side event, Keighley elaborated on why exactly he wanted to jumpstart The Games Festival in addition to holding The Game Awards again. “Six years ago I bet everything I had to create The Game Awards as a way to celebrate our passion for gaming. Now feels like the right time to take the next step with The Game Festival, a completely digital approach to the consumer event space. Let’s face it: Not everyone can attend a physical trade show or consumer event. The Game Festival is designed from the ground-up as an event without barriers, extending the benefits of a physical event to the global gaming community that watches The Game Awards.”
As consumer events like E3 continue to struggle, it will be interesting to see if digital-focused festivals like this and LudoNarraCon can gain the upper hand and become just as popular. As for The Game Awards, it begins tomorrow at 5:30pm PT and you can expect coverage on the event’s announcements from DualShockers.
The post The Game Awards Expands With Demo-Filled Digital Event The Game Festival by Tomas Franzese appeared first on DualShockers.